“Not being able to defend totals without Jasprit Bumrah has been India’s problem,” says Sunil Gavaskar

3 years AGO
Virat
Virat Verma Cricket expert
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Sunil Gavaskar says about his (Bumrah's) fitness, I feel that since he is such an important member of the team, the team management wants him to be entirely fit

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar feels that not being able to defend totals without Jasprit Bumrah has been India’s problem for long period now, and the management needs to do some course correction.

Team India was struggling with the bowling department in the recent Asia Cup in UAE and the same thing is seen in the opening game of the T20I series against Australia. 

India posted a 200-plus run target on the board but they couldn’t defend it and lost the game with four balls to spare. Only Axar Patel managed to take wickets along with being economical. 

In the first T20I, Jasprit Bumrah did not feature in the playing XI and it needs to be seen whether he comes back directly for the must-win second T20I.

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar feels that not being able to defend totals without Jasprit Bumrah has been India’s problem for long period now, and the management needs to do some course correction.

“This is India’s weakness. This isn’t a new problem. It has existed for a few years now that when they are defending, they find it difficult without Jasprit Bumrah. When Bumrah is there, the score can be defended but without him, they give away even 200-plus totals. Having said that, we need to look at the solution for it. Else, going forward, it may hurt them,”

Gavaskar said on Sports Tak after the first T20I between India and Australia.

When asked about his take on Jasprit Bumrah, Gavaskar said:

“About his (Bumrah’s) fitness, I feel that since he is such an important member of the team, the team management wants him to be entirely fit and only then he be picked in India’s XI. Maybe he will play in Nagpur.”

“But here is the thing. When the Indian team is chasing a target, they win matches. But it’s the opposite the other way around. The bowling that is needed between overs 16 and 20, still doesn’t have it. This is the reason that team is ending up on the losing side,”

he added.

The second game of the series will be played on Friday in Nagpur.

India: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah.

Australia: Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Aaron Finch (c), Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Daniel Sams, Steve Smith, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa